Train festival 2023 at LA Union Station

[TinCan782]

Saturday 9 September I traveled on the Pacific Surfliner #770 and #777 to/from LA Union Station for the Train Festival
Here are some images from the well-attended 2-day event.

Train Festival 2023

Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2023

flic.kr

Greeted and conversed with Amtrak's Lamar "#ComeRideWithMe" Smith who was also there for the weekend.

 

[Asher]

Quite a show, thanks for posting.
Good photo!

 

[caravanman]

Nice! I love the Art Deco ambience of LAX station. It was where I first became aware of Amtrak. Seeing the Chief on the arrivals board, coming all that way from Chicago! It whetted my appetite to start riding all the long distance Amtrak trains!

 

[trainman74]

It seemed even more crowded than back when they did similar events for National Train Day.

A couple friends and I went on Saturday -- we arrived about half an hour after the official start time, and the line to view the historic equipment was already 2 hours long (if you believed the "wait time from this point..." signs), so we opted not to do that. We looked at the model train layouts that were set up in the historic ticketing hall, briefly checked out the organization booths on the south patio, and then walked to Olvera Street. We came back to the station just as Homebound Brew Haus was about to open for the day, but there was an impressively long line waiting to get in there, so we left downtown L.A. entirely and went elsewhere for lunch.

 

[TinCan782]

It seemed even more crowded than back when they did similar events for National Train Day.

A couple friends and I went on Saturday -- we arrived about half an hour after the official start time, and the line to view the historic equipment was already 2 hours long (if you believed the "wait time from this point..." signs), so we opted not to do that. We looked at the model train layouts that were set up in the historic ticketing hall, briefly checked out the organization booths on the south patio, and then walked to Olvera Street. We came back to the station just as Homebound Brew Haus was about to open for the day, but there was an impressively long line waiting to get in there, so we left downtown L.A. entirely and went elsewhere for lunch.

Yes, appeared to be very well attended on Saturday.
Looking at the date/time data on my photos, we got in line about 1100 AM (near the piano and main waiting area) and first equpment photo was taken at 1145. We passed the 60 minute wait sign at 1130. So, not too bad for us.

 

[daybeers]

Almost like Americans want more train travel...

 

[chadamfleetrailfan]

It was great to see that #203 made an appearance. It looks like such a great way to celebrate train travel there @TinCan782. Thanks for sharing the pics!